


Graffiti Ceiling

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Last Summer [7]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Family, Gen, Homelessness, Mental Health Issues, Summer Collab 2020, Urban
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25910638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Sebastian keeps passing by changing graffiti on the wall.
Relationships: Demetrius & Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Series: Last Summer [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850053
Kudos: 6
Collections: (Prompts) Last Summer Collab Prompts, MinorFandomFest, Platonic Relationships





	Graffiti Ceiling

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Stardew Valley or My Time in Portia. This was written for one of the prompts for Last Summer Conest Collab over on Wattpad. I'm going to try to write at least one story per prompt before August 15th for the fun of it. This one is written for **Urban's** prompt and needed to be 1.5-3k.
> 
> "Every day you walk past a wall that has graffiti of what you are about to do. But today, it says I know what you did last summer. ... Who is after you and do they really know what you did?"

“ _Today’s going to rain_ ,” the graffiti on the wall read one day. In fact, the smell of coming rain hung in the air, the chill moisture soaking into everything. Sebastian utilized the warning as a method of finding shelter under an underpass, his eyes glued up at the underbelly of the underpass while the sound of rain and the passing of traffic lulled him into a rather peaceful sleep, one of the few since he ended up on the streets.

The graffiti that day, the one announcing the rain – whoever put the graffiti up used a vivid blue, yet they utilized a dripping effect that reminded him of the rain and why he liked the rain so much.

“ _Drink water_ ,” and “ _eat something_ ” were more often the graffiti which showed up on the wall, taunting him with how someone knew what he planned on doing, while others felt overly personal such as the one which noted the fact he would end up showering at the local shelter that day. The graffiti also lacked the same appeal as the graffiti which appeared the day it rained, the one the days he wanted to shower appearing the grittiest in look.

“ _I know what you did last summer._ ”

Sebastian froze, today’s graffiti making him freeze cold, his entire body freezing. A slight sweat dripped down his body, not to mention he’d expected instead of the graffiti which brought up the fact he’d planned on taking a shower at the local shelter. The colors used made his head swim, making him look away while his head throbbed. Taking a deep breath, he wanted to forget, yet the bright, sunny colors which swam in front of his eyes didn’t want to make him forget.

Yet, what he did the previous summer he wanted to forget – in fact, he’d pretty much forgotten, pushing the incident to the back of his mind.

Simply put, he’d made the decision which would result in him ending up on the streets, although in the back of his mind he didn’t think that the business of anybody else on the streets; for some reason they, whoever they were, made his business their business from the day he first started living in that particular area of Zuzu city. He found himself looking up at the sky, taking a deep breath.

Ignoring the graffiti, he headed up under the underpass deciding he might be getting to much heat that day, his eyes closing while he leaned up against the man-made hills of cement, his back straightening out. Nobody bothered him, and he bothered nobody, much different from the way things were in Stardew Valley; he bothered everybody and everybody bothered him, yet in the back of his mind he wondered if that was the right way to describe his given situation.

“What happened last summer?” Sebastian looked up at the underpass, the sound of the cars passing above droning away, making him feel sleepy. “I just want to forget.” He paid no mind to the cars which zoomed by, his mind focused on who might possibly be following him, putting up the graffiti whenever he passed by that particular spot. “ _Anything significant about that spot?_ _Well – yeah, there is._ ”

…

“ _Runaway._ ”

Sebastian couldn’t remember in the future whether the word appeared at the spot the day of or later on, but he did remember _that_ being the first piece of graffiti he discovered at _the_ spot. He also remembered the hot sun beating down on the top of his head, his dark hair gathering the heat when he first got off the bus from Stardew Valley to Zuzu City. The wall in question was the first thing he saw after getting off the bus, full of graffiti in various types.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his backpack onto his shoulder, before heading away from the bus stop and towards a place where he might find shelter from the sweltering sun. In his pocket was some money which would get him by, yet he didn’t want to reveal the fact he did indeed have some kind of money on him lest someone else on the streets tried stealing the money from him.

He also hoped he didn’t draw attention to himself, slowly blending in, his mind focused on getting away from his home situation. In fact, the latest argument with his step-father remained lodged in his head, the level of disappointment when he returned from the school his parents sent him to tell them he didn’t want to return – to even go to another school simply made his heart sink.

The thought of telling his mother and step-father _that_ , the actual reason behind not wanting to return, to go to any school at all made his heart sink further.

Demetrius still insisted that he attend the local high school, but felt he should apologize to his biological father for effectively wasting his money on a school the man pulled strings to get him into, although – to be honest, Demetrius didn’t use those words. He ended up feeling that was what Demetrius meant when he talked – no, told him he would be attending school despite _that_ issue – the issue he didn’t want to tell his family about.

Of course, it also didn’t help the fact he’d also learned his younger sister would be attending the local high school with him, making all of the issues which accumulated the previous year hitting home hard, yet adding to the feeling he’d just end up disappointing them even more, he’d decided to solve their problem of dealing with him and just leave. He knew the thought process wasn’t logical, yet he still found himself there, out on the streets, likely because of _that_ reason – a reason he didn’t want to go into.

After all, _that_ reason was just another reason for being disappointed in him.

…

Sebastian sat there, under the underpass watching the cars pass by, thankful no police officer came along telling him he was trespassing to leave. A few did, a few let him be outside of getting him water during warmer weather and blankets during cold weather, or sometimes telling him there was an opening at a shelter and the weather wouldn’t be ideal for staying under the underpass. Still, the idea someone knew what he’d done the summer before, that he’d run away from home didn’t sit right with him.

It was then he realized someone was watching him carefully.

The man’s skin was dark, his hands jammed into his pocket, but when he realized Sebastian noticed him, he asked the question, “Is your name Sebastian?”

He felt his heart pound in his throat, his chest tightening, wondering what the stranger in front of him was doing there. His eyes carefully took in the fact the man was a police officer, and while there were definitely officers of color on the beat, this one was definitely not from the area. He saw a police car nearby and one of the officers he did know watching him.

His eyes opened and closed, his mind trying to remember if that officer was one of the ones who helped him, or told him to stop trespassing. He also wondered if he’d ever given his name out to any of the officers; he certainly didn’t answer now, feeling quite warry, but his mind pondered the fact, yes, he had seen the officer in front of him earlier, right before he’d seen the graffiti on the wall telling him the graffiti artist knew what he did last summer.

Why he’d noticed that particular officer, he didn’t know, but in his mind, something told him something was off. He watched the officer carefully as the headed back to the police car, saying something before wandering back, watching him. His body stiffened, watching the man. He pulled his backpack closer, his eyes drifting up to see the pace of the sun. Eventually, he became tired of watching and stood up, leaving.

This of course agitated the officer, both the one who asked him his name and the one who was in the car. Instinctively though, he wanted to get away, the idea of stranger danger playing through his head. He found himself heading to the bus stop, wondering if he had enough money to get away, or if he should instead use the money for food and go by foot. He knew the officer followed him in the car with the other officer, keeping their distance.

His breath quickened with the racing of his heart, yet he felt hot despite the fact the sun was starting to shift down. When he arrived at the bus stop, he fidgeted, watching the dark-skinned officer get out of the car, heading to the wall and waiting for something, nodding to the other officer for some reason. The police care left, but Sebastian felt as if he were being entrapped. The car came around again, pulling in, the officer in the car still watching just as the bus pulled in.

Sebastian let out a sigh, waiting for the passengers to get off, but then one passenger got off that he recognized, dark skin and all. His eyes blinked, just as they said, “Sebastian.”

“Demetrius.”

“You’ve lost weight.”

…

Did he ever want to be sent away to a private school?

Coming home for the summer, he didn’t feel like being sent away to a private school was something he actually wanted – in fact, he didn’t think he ever wanted to go to school ever despite the fact when he was younger he did, in fact, view school as something he enjoyed – perhaps. Once he started heading into his teen years, however, things felt like they were changing in so many ways, including his relationships with other people.

Things simply never felt right, and then…

Then came his mental breakdown towards the end of the school year. Words couldn’t even begin to describe how he felt beyond the fact there was a period of time where he wasn’t functioning, but the only reason he felt his biological father let him go home to Stardew Valley instead of remaining stuck in _that_ place – that place being a place meant to help with his mental health came down to the fact his father didn’t want to raise the suspicions of his mother by not letting him return when he normally would.

At least, that’s what he's feeling regarding the whole matter, that his father – his biological father felt disappointed in him because of his mental breakdown; hovering over him was the thoughts of further disappointment coming from his mother and from his step-father Demetrius if they found out about his _issue_. After all, everyone said when you’re dealing with a bully you should simply stick it out and ignore the person.

That felt impossible, to be honest, but he also didn’t want to return.

He’d told his biological father as much, but he should have known word would have thus gotten back to his mother and Demetrius.

“Sebastian. Why do you not want to – you do know your father spent a lot of money on that school, right?” Demetrius asked.

“ _He also spent a lot of money on putting me into one of those high-end places so nobody would ever find out that.._ ” Sebastian shook his head. “I just don’t want to.”

“It’s not about what you want. You’re a minor, so…”

“You’re not my father!” The words came out, yet another fight between him and his stepfather. He went down to his room, but the more Demetrius, his mother, or even his half-sister pushed, the more he felt he needed to get away, the fear of disappointing lingering long before his mental break down.

So, he left.

He left despite another instinct telling him that, no, leaving wasn’t a good idea.

…

“ _Run_ ,” the graffiti which read earlier, “ _I know what you did last summer,_ ” said.

Sebastian looked around, noticing the cop with the dark skin like his step-father, realizing suddenly there was a chance the cop was related to Demetrius. He glanced over the police car, realizing upon seeing the officer sitting n the car that perhaps running wasn’t an option.

“Sebastian?”

Still, despite the fact running wasn’t a good idea, upon hearing Demetrius say his name, he started turning and walking away, the anxiety suddenly hitting her in a way he couldn’t possibly ever put into words. The cop who was likely related to Demetrius stepped over. “Hold on. We’re just trying to get you home.”

“Home.” Sebastian looked at the ground, the word currently feeling like a foreign concept to him, given the fact he didn’t really feel like any place was a home for him – yet home in a way for the last year was the streets. He turned his head slightly, wanting to shake his head, but only made one movement of his head as his nervousness grew. “I…”

“Sebastian,” Demetrius let out a sigh, bringing to mind the fear of disappointment Sebastian simply didn’t want to deal with, which was why he wanted to run – why the graffiti suddenly showed that particular message.

“I don’t want to talk.”

“This isn’t about…” Demetrius took a deep breath, almost as if trying to not say the wrong thing. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Sebastian flinched, taken aback by the idea that he didn’t have to talk about it. The summer sun, although setting, still beat down hot and hard. “ _I don’t get it._ ”

“What matters is you understand you can talk about it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know.” Demetrius kept his boy low. “I know you don’t understand that you should be able to talk to us – me, your mother, your father, about those things you need to talk to us about.” He then added. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

That didn’t sound right in his head, given how upset Demetrius got regarding learning he didn’t want to return to school, his eyes drifted away, the graffiti changing to say, “ _You know that’s not true._ ” Sebastian swallowed, wanting some water given the hot day. “Is it?”

“I’m sorry I made you think otherwise, and I know we don’t communicate well. We all want you home though, and we all want to help you.”

“With what?” Sebastian said, his eyes drifting down to the ground.

“What you don’t want to talk to us about. The fact you don’t feel okay?”

“I can’t help the fact…” Sebastian stopped speaking, not wanting to look the man in the eye. He folded his arms across his chest.

“It’s okay not to always be okay. Those are the time we’re there to help you, so please, come home.”

Sebastian swallowed, looking at the graffiti again. This time, the graffiti said, “ _go home_. _”_

 _“_ I know it might be difficult, but we want to give it a try.”

The cop – who again Sebastian suspected was related to Demetrius said. “Demetrius hasn’t given up looking for you, but it took time to find you.”

“So please. Come home. Let us get you the help you need so you can be the successful person we believe in.”

He looked up at the graffiti again. “ _Go home._ ” The words began fading in the sweltering heat, yet he wasn’t ready to admit his issues yet.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to say, “Okay.”

Going home didn’t mean necessarily talking about his issues.


End file.
